Sweet, Sweet Baby Jesus

Just a few weeks ago I spent the day giving thanks for all things, now I prepare for the celebration of Jesus birth. Sweet, sweet baby. Jesus was born in a stable with the cows, the sheep, the goats and donkeys. Who ever would have thought that the King of the universe would have been born in such lowly circumstances? Who ever would have thought that He would have been born to such humble parents? Who ever would have thought?

Jesus had a rather meek beginning. He had very little in the way of material possessions. His father was a carpenter, his mother had no job, except to care for an infant and her husband, that is. How many of us put value on staying home to care for our loved ones? It's hard to do. Times have changed over the years. It costs a lot to raise a family. Many of us have to work in order to make ends meet. Prices are high and we have to pay our bills. But...

When I was young my mother didn't work. She stayed home and cared for her husband and seven children . Many of my friend's moms worked. These friends went home to an empty house each day. One friend's mom worked and her dad and uncle ran a gas station that was located at their home. Another friend's mom worked in a factory and this friend spent as much time at my house as possible. She and many others loved spending time at my house. They would get off the bus with us and spend the weekend. Others came over on a Saturday and we would play all day long. We asked my mom why she didn't go get a job and she said she already had one. She had us to take care of!

I've always thought that I had the greatest childhood. We lived on a dairy farm and loved every minute of it. We had the whole outdoors for our playground. Over 100 acres of land were ours. We romped around with no need to go to the playground in town. We didn't have to go to the public pool or skating rink. We just walked outside our door and it was all right there before our very eyes. We had lots of animals on our farm. The cows, pigs, calves, chickens, dogs and cats and their kittens were our play toys. Dad even had a couple of work horses for a while. But...

We had little in the way of material possessions. We had our sleds, ice skates and dolls, but otherwise we had little. It didn't seem to matter to us because we didn't need them. We wore hand me downs, seldom saw a new TV or living room set. We weren't rich by any standards. Mom and dad didn't run to the store all of the time. They grew their own vegetables, raised the meat that we ate. We made do with what we little we had. But really, we had it all. We really did.